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Brom
You dash to the stack of crates on your right, barely avoiding a number of traps that Echelon flings everywhere from some kind of high-tech launcher; like packs of claws and teeth, they land and open wide, electricity arcing between their fangs, ready to rip away an unsuspecting leg. You dodge them, leaping over one, barely avoiding another, sliding into cover behind the crates. You give yourself just enough time to catch your breath and start loading your pistol before you're on your way again, making a mad dash for your ship with your riot shield in place.

But Echelon isn't far behind. He pulls out a block of metal from over his shoulder that folds out and becomes a massive laser weapon. Bracing himself on the ground, he fires at you; you have your shield up as you run, but the weapon burns into it until you have a glowing, red-hot line across the center of your shield. Seemingly discouraged, he starts running towards you, his steps hastened by auto-firing thrusters on the legs of his armor, propelling him to an inhuman velocity.

Your pistol reloaded, you fire one, two shots - both of them ping uselessly off his armor and ricochet into space. Meanwhile, Echelon has caught up with you; you catch just a glimpse of a hideous smile through the bottom of his visor. What happens next happens so quickly that you're hardly able to process it. In one swift move, Echelon plants both his feet on the bottom of your shield, giving it a strong kick that sends you flying backwards, tumbling and sliding as he flips up into the air above. He's brought a particularly menacing combat shotgun to bear; he fires one, two rapid shots at you before he even hits the ground in the low gravity; both of them impact hard on your shield, which you just barely manage to raise in time. Some of the pellets get your arm; you wince with pain and try to focus. This is when you realize that his kick snapped your riot shield cleanly in half.

This guy is completely out of your league. You get back to your feet, holding what's left of your shield to deflect any further shots, and wonder where he is as you continue to dash the final handful of meters toward your ship. Too late, you realize he's right on you again - he rips away your shield and flings it aside. You shoot him in the face with your pistol at point blank, but the small arms fire pings uselessly away (though you manage to leave quite the ding). He levels his combat shotgun at your face - and then looks down at his chest. He barely has enough time to register the bolt - barbed explosive - that's lodged in his armor before it blows, causing him to miss his shot and knocking both of you aside. It's done significant damage to his armor - but you're not there to kill him. You use the opportunity to mad dash the last few meters to your ship and climb inside. Your arms are a blur - before you even have the canopy closed, you take off and fire a railgun round at Echelon. It misses most of him - but gets his leg. Blood mist sprays out into space, drifting away. Echelon doesn't skip a beat and slaps a patch on his leg, using his thrusters to dash his way behind cover... but you're not interested in him anymore. You just want to escape.

And it's not over yet. There are more of Afion's gangsters in the passages out of the asteroids, mostly in monoengine D47-B01 fighters.

Trontos
You switch to your crossbow, making sure that you have a bolt loaded up - barbed/explosive being the bolt of choice today. When you're done with this, you look up - Brom is already pretty far ahead, and focused pretty hard by Echelon.

A rocket explodes to your left - fired from Afion, it seems. Time to get moving; if you stick around, he'll be sure to hit you. Getting out of cover, you make a flying leap over a number of jawlike traps all across the floor, lined with razor-sharp metallic fangs. You break into a mad dash after Brom, firing your round backwards at Afion. While it misses, the explosion distracts him enough to make him miss his next shot; you count this as a success and return your attention to Echelon.

Catching up with Brom proves to be difficult because he's so far ahead, but as you run, you load another bolt into your crossbow, and fire. It misses completely and sails far out into the open cavern in the asteroid. You hope the next bolt will be better - especially as you get a better glimpse of what's going on with Echelon and Brom. Echelon does a flying flip-kick into the air with a show of rocket-boosted agility, firing multiple shotgun rounds at Brom's now-destroyed shield before he even hits the ground. Brom on the other hand tumbles along the ground, skidding to a stop and clamoring to his feet. Echelon rips his shield away as Brom's bullets ping off his armor and prepares to fire his shotgun right through Brom's helmet...

Taking quick aim, your crossbow bolt flies straight and true, lodging deep into Echelon's high-powered armor. He glances at it, shrinking back in surprise - just before it explodes, causing him to miss the shot; Brom manages to escape and get into his ship, and you follow suit, climbing into yours and taking off, leaving Echelon behind. After the canopy closes over you, you start equalizing the pressure in the cockpit. To your relief, the hissing in your suit subsides. You're still in a lot of pain, but death is no longer on the menu.

But it's not over yet. There are more of Afion's gangsters in the passages out of the asteroids, mostly in monoengine D47-B01 fighters. You remember eyeing them warily as you entered the asteroid; they'll do everything they can to keep you from escaping.

"Nice shooting, Trontos. Never thought I'd be saved by shield boy. I owe you one.
Now all we have to do is get out of here. My weapons aren't suited for fighting infantry, so if we see anyone approaching their fighters, you'll have to take care of them. I'll try to keep enemy fighters off us.
Got any ideas yourself or can we get moving? I would like to be out of this cockpit soon..."

"Don't mention it. I've had enough of this scum."
...
"Don't tell me how to do my job. I bought this ammo for this very situation."Take off
Head to safety
Shoot at a group of people, with a preference to fighter pilots, seen entering or approaching fighters using the Flechette round no more than twice.

"Yeah, let's go find some tropical paradise and settle down with some beautiful ladies. This black market dealing is a bit beyond my expertise.
Say, maybe there's a bank somewhere we can rob or a trillionaire who we can scam."

"You and me both, pal. annoyed: Not only did they attempt to cheat and kill us, but they've forced me back into my ship.
If we weren't being pursued like we are, I'd make them regret their actions.uncomfortably: Let's just get this over with. I don't want to spend any more time flying than I have to."

begin flying towards to outside of the astroid (to safety)
IF I run across any flying D47-B01 fighters,
-fire once at the one I deem to be the biggest threat,
-and start weaving around pillars, boulders, and other cover to avoid being hit/followed, while continuing to fly to safety.
Should I encounter any other mobile fighters,
-fire at each one once, firing now no more than three shots (making four shots total)
If I'm followed,
-try to make it difficult for my pursuer(s) to hit me.

BFett wrote:You never told me why you hate flying so much. It never made much sense to me considering our line of work.

((Back to ham mode))Booming voice: There are a few reasons, actually. Sad to say, we lack the time for me to go into detail.
But no need to worry, when we get out of here, I'll tell you all about it! There will be drinks, and much partying!